We greet you all with much love during
this Christmas Advent season from our home in North
Carolina this year instead of our home in Haiti. As many
of you know, this is our year of “Home-Assignment” with ABC and “Off-Field
Assignment” for CBF.Steve, Micah and I
have been enjoying the change of seasons and now that winter is here, we are
trying to stay warm! We enjoyed our first snow of the season and realized we hadn’t
really experienced snow in six years!

The
week before Thanksgiving, we were pleased to announce the birth of our 5th grandchild
born to our daughter Miriam (Mims) and her husband Jon Swinger. They had a
sweet baby girl named Stevie, after both her grandfathers. Her 2 ½ yr old brother, Jericho Rudi, is thrilled
and tells his mom and dad every day how he loves “my new baby sister!” said
with a beautiful smile on his face. The awesome thing is that Stevie was helped
into the world by her aunt Kirstin, a Certified Nurse Midwife practicing here
in North Carolina.
It was wonderful to be here and to be part of the excitement and we were able
to help with the care of Kirstin and Lee’s three while she was at the hospital
for the delivery.

Carrie,
our third daughter, who is also a nurse, was able to be with Mims for the birth
as well. It was a joyous day to welcome a new life into our midst. A week
later, all of our children and grandchildren were able to gather in our small
farmhouse to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. It had been six years since we
have been able to be together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Wonderful to have
a newborn at Christmas, with much rejoicing in the Lord!

Other
highlights of our months in the United
States have been:

-
Enjoying a family reunion this summer at our home in North Carolina

-
Spending quality time with our parents, June Beaver and Lloyd James

-
Helping Micah settle into 12th Grade at the local public high school

-
Reconnecting and getting involved in the life of our home church, First Baptist Burnsville
(singing in the church choir is a joy!)

-
Fellowshipping this summer with other field personnel on our Latin American and
Caribbean CBF team in Atlanta and with other ABC
missionaries at Eastern University in Pennsylvania
during the Conference for Missionaries

-
Steve spent a week at a Masters in Organizational Leadership conference in Santiago,
Dominican Republic

-
Speaking and sharing about what we see the Lord doing in Haiti and around the world with friends, churches and faith groups in various states (deputation)

-Participated
in a conference on Peacemaking at the Agape Community where we reconnected
with old friends and were challenged anew to make a difference in our war-ravaged
world.

We
are looking forward to times together with Steve’s dad and family after Christmas
in Pennsylvania, and then in January with my
sisters and mom in Florida.

These
first 5 months of our Home Assignment in the US have been very energizing and renewing
to our spirits. We specifically wanted a time of “quiet reflection,” this year as
we try to discern what God might want us to do as we face the next term in Haiti.

Steve
and I continue to have our minds and hearts in Haiti. We receive weekly updates
through emails and phone calls from our friends and co-workers there. Word from
the Haut Limbé area where we live brings news of another surge of cholera especially
in the north affecting the Ebenezer Clinic. In early November there were over
100 patients interned with cholera and sadly, some deaths were reported. The increase
in rains and people slipping back into “life before cholera,” was blamed for the
outbreak. Public health and grassroots efforts, including the inspiring work of
our CHE (Community Health Evangelism) partners, are continuing to educate and
remind people of what is crucial to prevent such a life-threatening illness. We
will continue to update you on events in Haiti as they come to us.

May
the Lord Jesus bless you and your families and communities in the year ahead.
Although the future often looks bleak, we see evidences of God moving in many places
around the world and we put our hope in Him. We are indeed grateful for your love,
friendship and support.